PRESENTATIONS FROM THIS EVENT

Arun Sharma was born and raised in India, Chandigarh. He moved to Aachen, Germany, in 2012. Arun shares his experiences of being away from his home country and the challenges of bringing up two young Indian kids in a new country.

How can you tell the difference between normal relationship challenges and dealing with a partner who is abusive? Abuse is not just physical—it can also be emotional, verbal, sexual, financial, and psychological. Learning about coercive control could be the first step to helping you or someone you love to break free from a destructive relationship.

We fly more often than before but seldom think about the people who actually make it possible for us, besides the pilots and stewardesses. Air traffic controllers are behind the scenes; their role is crucial for our family visits, business trips or dream holidays.

Csilla Szabó started working with air traffic controllers over a year ago and is fascinated by their work. In this presentation, she takes us into the world of air traffic controllers and tells us what she has learned from them.

Marieke Hopman is PhD researcher at Maastricht University in children's rights. After doing research on children's rights to education in the Central African Republic (CAR) during 2016-2017, a study that included three months of fieldwork, she returned to the CAR in November 2017 to share the results of her research. Marieke explains how she experienced the quite unusual step for many researchers of sharing research results back in the field.

For Mariëlle Daemen, starting a foundation had been a dream ever since she visited the Gambia for the first time. Back then, she witnessed poverty and many children not being able to go to school. This led her to co-found the Kids2School Foundation.

Starting from the principle that education is a basic right for every child in the world, Kids2School is trying to give more children in the Gambia access to education. Children who out of poverty would never have a chance to go to school and as such could never hope for a better future for them and their family. For the sponsors of the children, the foundation provides a very direct, one-on-one opportunity to contribute to a better world as well.

Mignon Schichel experienced how living in a border region prepared her for crossing mental and physical borders. Consciously or not, crossing physical or mental borders has played an important role at several stages in her life.

Nathalie Ummels is an education innovator, community-activist and world traveller with a passion for sustainability and dark chocolate. In her presentation, Nathalie talks about the unexpected life lessons from a family who hit the road and left everything behind.

What do you think, does money make you mean? Paul Smeets, Associate Professor in Finance at Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, investigated the influence of money on prosocial behaviour over the last few years.

Traditionally finance researchers have only focused on how to behaveto earn more money. Paul flipped this question around and asked: Does having more money influence your behaviour?

Pilar González Vigil Reátegui comes from Lima. Her studies and work brought her to Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands. Pilar speaks about her desire to write a children's book and how her dream came true.

The complexities of human behaviour and how we adapt to new routines fascinate Rodrigo Morais Prezia Paiva. New routines can come from completely new behaviours or changing ones that we have engrained. Nudging is a new approach where instead of building complex solutions to manage behaviours, a light touch can be used.

In the fall of 2017, Sebastian, Anina and Sinan, all students in Maastricht and all with a background of social engagement, came to a joint realisation: the city of Maastricht is full of beautiful student-driven initiatives that have a positive social impact on the city and its inhabitants. This led them to establish ImpactLab, a public accelerator for social impact, supporting those who do good to do better and stay well.

Last November, Sueli Brodin and her family adopted a cosmopolitan chicken named Akosua. This experiment is part of Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen’s #PerfectStrangers citizen science art project. Sueli not only takes care of Akosua, but also keeps a diary about everything that she experiences with her. Sueli tells us about the adventures she and her family have lived together with Akosua and what thoughts and questions this experience has provoked.

Many chronically ill people in the world live with the sense that their bodies are waging war against them – that is, against the people they are. Steve believes that this is not only fruitless, it is self-destructive. Let's listen to his approach to two important questions: How can sick people remain sane? What would be a useful attitude to take?